EFTM

Air Asia set to put Sydney-Kuala Lumpur seats on sale again

Forgot to get your significant other a Valentine’s Day present? You could just tell them you were waiting for the Air Asia sale to begin tomorrow so you could shout them a holiday to Asia. With some seriously low prices, it’s probably not out of reach.Air Asia made waves a few weeks ago announcing it would fly to Sydney from Kuala Lumpur. The airline, owned by Tony Fernandes who also owns the Caterham F1 team, already flies into Perth, Melbourne and the Gold Coast. To celebrate the launch of the Sydney route, flights went on sale for just $99 one way. Those fares are gone now, but if you missed out, have your credit card ready tomorrow when another sale starts up.

You could find yourself on a flight to Kuala Lumpur for just $149 one-way. While there you can check out the awesome Petronas Twin Towers, catch a lap around the Sepang International Circuit that hosts Formula 1 and Moto GP races and explore some of the awesome caves surrounding Malaysia’s capital. Of course, there is also the amazing street food. But if KL doesn’t get your heart racing, connection sales are happening as well.

Air Asia will take you to Singapore, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok or Phuket for $189 one way from Sydney. Consider that you would be hard pressed to get flights from Sydney to Singapore for less than $850 return, and the deal looks too good to be true.

So is it too good to be true? There are pitfalls, be sure of that. Air Asia operates the long haul Air Asia X A330 or A340 aeroplanes to Australia. Generally carriers that fly that aircraft will have economy seating spaced out in two by four by two configuration. That’s two by the windows and four in the middle. But Air Asia goes three by three by three. Squeezing in that one extra seat can make for an interestingly tight flight. You could, of course, fly business class with Air Asia which has fully flat beds. It’s usually not much more expensive than an economy seat with a full service carrier, but that kind of defeats the purpose of serious economy savings. And anyway, Sydney to KL is only eight hours, so man up.

Other things to bear in mind are food and luggage. You’re going to have to buy food on board or order it with your ticket really, as a flight from Australia to Asia means more than a few hours between meals if you don’t. Baggage will also cost you, and if you’re travelling that far, you’ll be a miracle worker if you can get by with carry on. There are also a heap more ways that Air Asia try to get you to part with your money, but they don’t hold a gun to your head, so stay strong, grab minimal luggage and a meal and you’ll be saving bucket loads.

Thanks to Air Asia Aussies can now go more places than just New Zealand and Indonesia on the cheap.